Trooper Alberto Felix Memorial Service 12/8/23

Unfortunately this is one of two processions taking place; Trooper Felix and Sgt. Abbate both were killed while doing their duties on 2023 November 30.  Trooper Felix procession was on 2023 December 8 and Sgt. Abbate's will be on Monday, 2023 December 11th.

Margaritaville

Retirement Party

 2021 March 25, Friday at about 1700 hours was the last day to one of the great Assistant Chiefs that I have had the pleasure to know and work under.

I met L. Haydu back in the mid-eighties when we both worked for Lockheed Aeronautical Space System, he was with the fire protection and I was with the plant protection (security).  

Lockheed Aeronautical Space System

Who would have thought that I would have him as my fire instructor and then as my Division Chief many years later [2014]; we've had our good times and very few bad times ~ me being myself and getting write-ups LOL.  He will be missed.  

Clark County Fire Department ~ Rural Division

Asst. Chief L. Haydu and I checking my radio

L. Haydu helmet after a live burn training

Hopefully what he had accomplished for the Rural Division does not diminished and carry on for years to come.

 

Episode: A Rant

 Well, the ending of June was interesting and just keeps on going... 

Not only have there been a death in the family* and one expecting, work has created such a chaos with the routes under the disguise of "keeping it even"; it has taken me out of my jurisdiction and forced me to get off past my schedule time off.  This morning I have already seen a hint of what taking place for the rest of my next two days at work...they redid the route and added more hits instead of eliminating, enough is enough!  Just because they can call it full-time at thirsty-two hours and get away from paying time-and-a-half for anything over eight, because it is not over forty hours [thanks to the government], they are taking advantage of all their patrolpersons by making them stay over to finish the route.  Not only do they want you to falsify information, they IMO cheat the client by not being honest in several areas such as not telling the client that their service can be interrupted by an alarm; not all the hits might be done on a given day; etc., nor sharing the daily report with them (as it was told to be my the GM that those reports does not goes to the client); and to create "two incident report per week", however, they [GM] said they are not telling us to falsify, just want two incident reports per week.  News flash, that is the same as saying it obviously ~ falsify reports, the implication is there!

Definition of Incident:

GOOGLE ~ noun: incident; plural noun: incidents...  an event or occurrence "several amusing incidents"

• a violent event, such as a fracas or assault
• a hostile clash between forces of rival countries
• a case or instance of something happening
• the occurrence of dangerous or exciting things

BLACK LAW'S DICTIONARY ~ Something dependent upon, appertaining or subordinate to, or accompanying something else of greater or principal importance, something arising or relting from something else of greater or principal importance Mola v. Reiley, 100 N.J.Super. 343, 241A.2d 861, 864.  Used as a noun, it denotes anything which inseparably belongs to , or is connected with, or inherent in, another thing, called the "principal".

Neither of these definitions indicate a broken sprinkler head, lights outs (no damages to light pole or housing), etc., but as it was told to me and others, is what they use [incident reports] to get more money from the clients.  I don't know, I guess if I was the "client", I'll be wanting daily reports and since it is done electronically, I would want it on each patrol that way I can compare what the officers are seeing on the property and what they are reporting...and if there is something wrong then ask questions.  Oh, and a peaceful individual once advised and asked to leave the premises compare to a violent individual that now wants to fight, does not warrant an incident report unless there is damage or a crime has been committed...which at that point I guess someone would be calling in the "big boys".

~~rant over.

*Family: If I say you're family, you're family regardless if you're blood or not.

COVID-19

Well, Las Vegas has gone "full open", but some businesses still have the "MASK REQUIRED" and others gives you an option on the honour system. For me personally I rather wear the mask in a store, who's to say who has or not had the vaccine.  I rather play it safe for a while, travelling on a commercial passenger jet is up in the air for me... Enclosed in a pressurized capsule (fuselage), mask or not I don't think would help.  Until then, let's wait and see what will take place and what our government will try and get away with next time.

Seven Years Ago I Was A Volunteer

 

T. Hawk McKinnon             Photo by K. McClean

Seven years ago, well, actually 2013 December 5, I received the phone call that I was chosen to join the ranks of the Clark County Fire Department Rural Division, the volunteer section of the department (CCFD is a combination department).  After a hard process I graduated 2014 April 25 from the Rural Division Academy (ELFF - Entry Level Firefighter), which I'm glad I went through that academy because in that same year they changed the teaching for the next academy...frankly I didn't think I was going to past the academy, that's for another time.

Today I'm still with the Clark County Fire Department Rural Division assigned to Station 80 in Blue Diamond, Nevada and currently holding the rank of captain, my fire photography has been on placed on the shelf by the most part as I concentrate in making myself better at what I'm currently doing.  

With this COVID19 and the restrictions that has been placed, a lot of training programs have either stopped or have taken another turn in the cyber world.  Events that were not easy to attend due to travel and cost have become available online, some for a fee and others not, but it has brought it to a new level.  People itching to interact with each other have created Podcasts (been thinking myself of doing one) and have brought to the forefront the fire service history, the way it was, the new era, and where it's going in their opinion.  The only thing that I see lacking with this new format, is the hands-on training.

You are only a volunteer when you turn in the application and finish the process; however, once you have completed everything - It's a Job!  Something that Chief B. Soller has said, "Nobody cares if you're career or volunteer."  This I have found to be true when the calls comes out or the tones drop, you're responding to someone's worst day to help.  I was raised that if you commit yourself to something (paid or not), treat it as a job because it is.

The opinions of this author is solely his, it does not represent the opinion of any organization, group of individuals, government entity, etc., if the author's opinion just happens to be similar to someone else's or group of, that is just pure coincident.

Looking Towards 2021 - What Would Be In Stored

 

As this year [2020] comes to an end, it just makes me wonder about several things to come.  When the "pandemic" became a full blow thing in March, many of us still believed it was just a hoax and then it was a political ploy that the parties were using to fight each other; even though it was first mentioned in 2019 as the "Corona Virus" and many memes came out using the popular beer of Mexico "Corona" it was comical at first; however, by March when the country shut down and the states shut down it was becoming more apparent that this might be serious - COVID19.  Still you had your conspirators (and always will have) claiming it was all false, and with no one "true" directive or explanation from anyone, the messages given out to the public and first responders was very confusing (and still might be) and the public just didn't know and does not know what to believe.  You had within families a division where one took it to an extreme and the other a very lax approach to the directives and the information given.  Life as we know it has changed and still is changing, the "end of times" might be upon us; however, for generations that term has been used, for we do not know when Christ is coming back, but to be prepared is the main gist that I get. 

Has our Constitutional rights been violated?  Many will say no and others will say yes.  

As there been questionable acts by the government in general?  Now that's the question.  In every decade that has been a looming thing depending on what was taking place and what the populous belief.  If you're a "black-n-white" type of person when you read something... I'll let you answer that question yourself.

It seems to me that what has started in 2019 and exploded in 2020, is just going to continue into 2021, however, at what scale is the question, is the norm for us to be germophobic or is it a passing thing.  Gathering with family and friends going to be a thing of the past or is it going to be back to normal; guess that will depend on the individuals.  I am sure within families there are divisions, conspirators, etc., society has created a "me" syndrome and no one looks out for their fellow neighbor any more, except a small percentage of those "old timers" that still believe in the old ways and those that become first responders from the heart instead of a job security and a paycheck.

Only God knows what is in stored for all of us in 2021.

The opinions of this author is solely his, it does not represent the opinion of any organization, group of individuals, government entity, etc., if the author's opinion just happens to be similar to someone else's or group of, that is just pure coincident.  

SMH

SMH

Many at the beginning thought the "Corona Virus" was a hoax because the Media blew it up so well; among my First Responders, including myself, thought it was over blown by the Media and a hoax until we realized it was not.  THEN mix information started to flow again, governors making it clear they didn't care about the constitution, reports that no matter how you die if you tested positive postmortem  they were labeling it as cause of death Covid19, and now the numbers they show are believed, some of the people that were reported that died from Covid19 have left a "?" because they weren't sociable, economy being affected and people are upset and hurting financially.   Before when they (government at all levels) were saying to maintain social distance, wear a mask, etc., most weren't listening, but now that in some places they are opening up, it seems everyone is wearing and maintaining social distance, to the point that arguments have taken place.